Advertisement

Gatwick chaos during floods 'a wake-up call'

The Christmas Eve chaos at Gatwick Airport should be "a wake-up call for airports across the UK" in tackling disruption, a report by MPs has said.

More than 11,000 travellers were affected by delays and cancellations on December 24 after flooding caused a power failure at the West Sussex airport.

Report finds that Gatwick Airport chaos during flooding in December 2013 should be a 'wake-up call' Credit: PA

In a report today, the House of Commons Transport Committee said that passengers had told of poor and often inconsistent provision of information about what was happening, lack of clarity about who was in charge, a lack of basic facilities and confusion about what expenses could be reimbursed.

The committee's report said: "The problems at Gatwick at Christmas Eve should be a wake-up call for airports across the UK to get on top of operational resilience issues.

"Disruption of whatever nature should be met with well-drilled plans, familiar to airport operators, airlines, and other contractors, which put passenger interests first."